But to what tune? What musical genre would you ascribe to these Giants? Their all-hands roster approach is orchestral in a sense, but classical music is too buttoned-down for their tastes. Maybe they're just a little bit country and a little bit rock 'n' roll.

This much is certain: if they hit all the right notes against the dangerous Texas Rangers, their praises will be sung in San Francisco forever.

They'll have to be at their sharpest today at AT&T Park to defeat left-hander Cliff Lee, who might be baseball's hottest postseason pitcher since Orel Hershiser dazzled for the Los Angeles Dodgers more than 20 years ago.

Lee is 7-0 with a 1.26 ERA in eight career playoff starts; he has been untouchable this postseason against two fearsome offensive clubs, the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees, going 3-0 with an 0.75 ERA while striking out 34 and walking one in 24 innings.

This is nothing new for Lincecum, though. In Game 1 of the NLCS, he faced the Phillies' Roy Halladay -- a pitcher coming off the second postseason no-hitter in major league history.

And Timmy beat him.

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"He's not a guy that gets wavered by nerves," Wilson said. "He doesn't pitch on negative emotion. He's a guy who knows what he's capable of doing, he grabs the ball and makes his pitches.

"He's a big-time pitcher and that's what the postseason is all about. It's his time to shine."

The Giants have shined behind Lincecum in Game 1 so far this postseason. They beat the Braves in the NL Division Series and toppled Halladay in the NLCS opener. For all their torturous endings, they still haven't trailed in a postseason series, nor have they played an elimination game in 2010.

It's up to Lincecum to keep it that way.

"People think it's going to be easier to face him," said the Rangers' Bengie Molina, Lincecum's catcher in each of his two Cy Young-winning seasons. "No, no, no way. I don't think so. It's not going to be fun. I can tell you that right now."

Lincecum won't win his third consecutive Cy Young this season. But in a way, his winless August better prepared him for this brightest of stages. Giants manager Bruce Bochy recalled a long conversation with his struggling ace during that 0-5 month. The manager saw a light bulb go off.

In the privacy of Bochy's office, Lincecum wondered aloud if this game was about more than individual achievements. He bought in to the team concept and sold out for the group. And he took off.

"He has matured so much, not just as a pitcher but how he handles things," Bochy said. "And when you're tested, you only get stronger, and he was certainly tested a couple months ago. I know there were questions about where Timmy was physically, mentally, and we all have our ups and downs.

"I've talked about this many times, and what's important is how you deal with it. Timmy just hasn't had to deal with the down periods very often.

"I think coming out of that, he's even stronger in how he handles things and his perspective on everything, and he's a better player because of what he went through."

The Rangers are favored in most quarters because they have the hottest pitcher, Lee, and the hottest hitter. Josh Hamilton hit four home runs in the ALCS even though the Yankees walked him eight times. He might be the most dangerous offensive force the World Series has seen since Barry Bonds tore through the Angels staff in 2002.

But Lincecum, all laissez-faire and long hair, is one heck of an equalizer.

"It's just great to get this opportunity," Lincecum said. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. Prior to this year I didn't know if we'd ever get here or what was going to happen or how far we'd get. But we got the right tools and brought the right people in at the right time, and we're here now."

Lincecum has an admirer in Lee, whom the Rangers acquired from the last-place Seattle Mariners with a surprising trade in July.

"The way he does it . . . no one else does it that way. I like that," Lee said. "I like when unorthodox works."

Lee is a paragon of orthodoxy. He doesn't look to the sky like Fernando Valenzuela or contort his body like Lincecum or seem to touch you as he releases the ball like Randy Johnson.

He simply uses his fastball like a scalpel and churns through lineups with a perfect array of secondary pitches.

"You look in and he'll go away," Giants center fielder Aaron Rowand said. "You look away and he'll bust you in. He throws a two-seamer and a cutter and a back-foot curveball. He's got enough velocity and he locates. He's got a lot of ways to get you out. He keeps you off balance, and that's what makes him so effective."

Whenever the Giants face a starting pitcher who throws strikes, they look to jump on first pitches. The Rangers certainly see ways to attack Lincecum, too -- starting with the fact that opponents swiped 27 bases in 30 attempts against him during the regular season.

For all their power, the Rangers don't sit around and wait for three-run homers. They're 15 for 17 in stolen-base attempts in 11 postseason games. And in the playoffs, a multi-dimensional offense is the most dangerous kind.

"It's not just him. We'll try to exploit everyone," Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler said. "That's one of our strengths. That's one of the ways we get closer to home plate. We'll definitely try to run and he'll make a conscious effort to stop it. That's the beauty of this game."